what materials to use

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:16 am

hello everyone!

im going to be making 2 sound proof rooms in my basement not exactly sure of the dimensions, but i know will comfortably fit 6 in each room.

it will be 1 track room 1 control room... and im curious as to what materials i will need to make the rooms pretty well soundproof.

roughly how much would that cost? how do i remain soundproof with the doors? what kind of glass is used so you can look from room to room?

i know i basically need to build a room inside of a room...

i just dont know how to go about it... what should the walls be made of? the ceiling? the floor? the windows?

it doesnt have to be PRO PRO PRO... but good enough...

also.. how do i run cables from room to room? i was thinkin just putting an inch by inch whole in the cornerand running cables and a power strip but i dont know if i would need to cover the hole back up with something removable, and if so... what would it be? a blanket? lol

please help...

tahnks, Tyler

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:41 am

Hole...

You need airtightness for sound insulation.

An HOLE is a place air can pass through.

No good.

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 12:33 pm

nearly useless.. but thanks...

instead of telling me what work... i was asking to advise of what will.

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:01 pm

Your post is nearly useless...

Read the stickies for this forum, that would be a start.

Then ask something less vague.

"roughly how much would that cost?"

40,000 pesos.

Useful?

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 2:25 pm

Yay! I'm not the only one that gets beat up! Smile

Bisson, I've found that the folks on this board are incredibly intelligent, and if you do what they ask the information will flood forth. Take a breath, read the sticky, follow the instructions and folks will be more forthcoming.

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 6:05 pm

eyeveedrip wrote:

Yay! I'm not the only one that gets beat up! Smile

Bisson, I've found that the folks on this board are incredibly intelligent, and if you do what they ask the information will flood forth. Take a breath, read the sticky, follow the instructions and folks will be more forthcoming.

Weezy,

Thank you!

(You saved me (and a couple of others) from having to post the same request!)

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:47 pm

sorry guys... but if the only thing holding you back from answering my questions is the country i live in (USA) then your being a little too anal about it...

asking what materials to use to make something soundproof? asking what kind of glass it is? and asking how to get cables/power into it..

what holds you back from answering those questions besides the fact that you just dont know?

when its that black and white... please dont critique my question... just dont say anything... it taints a forum

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:23 pm

What you need to do is clarify (and read the sticky which is at the top of the page for this forum - this means putting your location in your profile among other things).

"not exactly sure of the dimensions, but i know will comfortably fit 6 in each room."
6 what, elephants?

"roughly how much would that cost?"
The amount of material x the cost of the material. The amount depends on the specific dimensions and the cost depends on where you are.

"how do i run cables from room to room?"
Cut a hole, yes. More than 1" square. Then cover it with a faceplate on both sides.

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:26 pm

"not exactly sure of the dimensions, but i know will comfortably fit 6 in each room."
6 what, elephants?

really?.... really!?!

thanks man

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:27 pm

http://www.wikihow.com/Win-Friends

Check out the Warnings section. You may find it of use.

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:28 pm

not trying to gain friends.. just knowledge.

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:39 pm

First things first, you already have access to this basement, yes?

Yes -> go measure it. Height, depth, width, what are the walls/floors/ceiling made of? What's in it, how do you get down, stairs? Where are the stairs located. Attach a plan if possible.

I think you're trying to do this too quickly and cheaply and thinking it'll get done in an instant. It's happened so many times on this forum - people rush and make a mess of it. Someone a while ago went ahead and built a square room - then asked for help. Big acoustic no-no.
You need to go about this with the right attitude and be willing to work on it. If not, you'll get some shoddy crap that is acoustically hellish and you'll spend X time and Y money trying to fix it. Eventually, you should realise it would've been easier to do it properly from scratch.

Now, where did you leave your measuring tape?

Also, to make things soundproof = mass. *Probably* some sort of dual leaf gypsum wall, I don't know. I just run live sound and try to help people.

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 8:54 pm

Bisson820 wrote:

sorry guys... but if the only thing holding you back from answering my questions is the country i live in (USA) then your being a little too anal about it...

asking what materials to use to make something soundproof? asking what kind of glass it is? and asking how to get cables/power into it..

what holds you back from answering those questions besides the fact that you just dont know?

when its that black and white... please dont critique my question... just dont say anything... it taints a forum

Bisson,

OK, codemonkey's actually beaten me to it...

But here's some practical......

My building is 1200 sq ft. The tracking room is approximately 16x26. To me, it's a tad small for 6 to track in. But I do have an iso booth and a hallway I can put muso's in. So... I can fit 6 comfortably, provided the instrumentation is right.

What square footage you have avail is important.

What your current construction assembly is, is also important. That can effect your steps forward to the construction methods you may want to use. I mean... if your existing structure is conventional 2x4, then you may not find it's worth it to build a 2x10 stud room in a room construction.

How loud is the music you will be recording?

How close are you to a neighbor?

While to you it may seem like a stoopid request to give details, it's actually pretty stoopid to expect good advice when you you clearly don't ask a detailed enough question.

What's good soundproofing??? MASS... and a hell of a lot of it. There's your short and sweet answer... what and how much, the assembly method, the cost and availability of materials are really dependent upon as many details as you can supply.

Without them... you're really just wasting your own time.

Oh... and since my guess is that you only picked up the highlights of Rod's sticky... here the are in their entirety....

PLEASE follow this link to Rod's READ THIS BEFORE YOU POST... or read it below...

Either way, you will not receive much help without at least some of Rod's minimum required information being a part of your post.

Rod Gervais wrote:

Finally I have to put up one of these.

Before you post please make certain you do the following:

IF YOU FAIL TO DO THIS STEVE AND I WILL NOT RESPOND

Use the search feature to look for threads that may contain the answer to your question. There is a wide variety of projects represented in this forum -- everything from relatively low-budget residential rehearsal rooms to full-scale, professional recording studios. If your searches return too many results, try multiple terms with "Search for all terms" enabled.

If those efforts do not lead you to the answers you need, you are welcome to post your questions on the forum. If you do so:

Edit your profile to include your location. This is very important, because this is a worldwide resource, and as such, material costs and availability vary widely. For example, masonry is cheaper than gypsum in some parts of the globe, whereas it's the exact opposite in other regions. We're not asking for your address or credit card number, just a country will do.

Start your post with an overview of your goals and where you are in the process... Research? Planning? Construction already underway? Finished, and wanna know why it doesn't work?

HOW LOUD are you, and how picky/loud are your neighbors? How close? This is subjective, so you will need to buy something like the Radio Shack Sound Level Meter

Trust me, if you're recording/mixing music you should be using this ALWAYS, so it's not a waste of money. For music at typical mix levels, you want to use "C" weighting, slow. The human ear has no way of "measuring" ABSOLUTE sound levels; it just adapts to what's there, and calls that "normal" - so if you keep raising the volume, pretty soon you're mixing at 110 dB, ruining your hearing and neighbor "atta-boy" points, etc - the SPL meter helps you keep levels constant and safe.

For all other tests, the authorities virtually ALWAYS use A weighting, and (I think) slow response. So for compliance, use "A" weighting measurements.

Include as much detail as possible about the existing construction. Having details about anatomy of your existing floor, walls, and ceiling is critical. In your searches of the forum, you'll likely find examples of the kinds of details that are needed, and you'll see that the quality and timeliness of the advice given are affected by the level of detail provided.

Please don't tell us you want to float your floor if you are building on an upper level - this is almost always impractical, and ALWAYS will require a LOCAL ENGINEER to verify that it will be safe.

Remember that acoustics is THREE DIMENSIONAL, not two - when you give dimensions, we need Length, Width, Height, plus any NON-parallel features of the room.

Include drawings of what you're describing if at all possible. They do not need to be professional or perfectly to scale, but they do need to account for the necessary details. Cropping your drawing will allow you to make the important parts larger and more legible without increasing the overall size. See next...

Please resize as necessary to keep graphics BETWEEN 700 and 750 pixels wide - otherwise it's either too small for details or it forces people to scroll sideways to read every line of text.

If you link to pix OFF this site, please make sure THOSE pix aren't oversized either - it causes the SAME PROBLEM.

_________________
Rod Gervais
Acoustics Moderator Sometimes - late at night..... when the wind whips
through the trees........ and the moon shines bright in my
face......... I think deep thoughts.......... and my head hurts.

Rod Gervais' book "Build it Like the Pro's" is an excellent source of information.

You can also try the search function of the forum for what you are looking for.

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:07 pm

Bisson820 wrote:

i know i basically need to build a room inside of a room...

i just dont know how to go about it... what should the walls be made of? the ceiling? the floor? the windows?

Tyler,

You bring nothing to the table in this negotiation. How do you suppose to motivate someone with the want being laid out but the support suggests "I don't know, and I have no intention of finding out."

Madmax has a thread that you could read up on, if nothing else to get some terminology for what it is you are trying to achieve.

You want a better answer gotta ask a better question :)

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 11:53 pm

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